The Wood Pellet Industry In North Carolina

Wood pellets are causing an environmental controversy in North Carolina. Though the energy source is carbon neutral in theory, that's not always true in practice.

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The wood pellet industry is booming in North Carolina, thanks in part to high demand from Europe. Power plants burn the wood product to create energy, but wood pellet companies are cutting down trees at a higher rate than anticipated, raising questions about whether the practice really is carbon neutral.

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Wood pellet controversy

This week, one of the major wood pellet companies, Enviva, announced it would give $5 million over 10 years toward environmental grants to protect bottomland forests.

Host Frank Stasio talks with WUNC environment reporter Dave DeWitt about the arguments for and against wood pellet production in North Carolina.

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Trucks carrying long logs stream into the wood pellet plant on the edge of Ahoskie all day, every day. The facility, owned by a company called Enviva, was an abandoned saw mill just five years ago. Now, it towers over the adjacent Wal-Mart and Hardees, spewing white smoke.

Along the fence that encircles the plant, logs are stacked 40-feet high. Longleaf pine, southern red oak, white ash - pretty much every tree species that grows in the southeast could be used to make wood pellets.

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